Improvement in top-rest for carriages



J.. LEWIS.

Carriage-Top Rest.

Patentd July 5, 1870.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE JAMES LEWIS, OF MARENGO, MICHIGAN.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 105,097, dated July 5, 1870.

I, JAMES LEWIS, of Marengo, in the count-y of Calhoun and State of Michigan, have invented certain Improvements in Prop-Rests for the Tops of Garriages, of which thefollowing is a specification:

My invention relates to the combination of certain adjusting devices with the prop-iron arm and concave seat upon which the hind bows rest when the carriage-top is let down, the object being to make such seats self-adjustable, in order that the top-bows aforesaid may always, even when sprung, iind a true bearing within the concavity of :heir seats.

Figure l is a view, in perspective, of myimproved seat and arm detached from the propiron of the seat-rail. Fig. 2 is a Verticallongitudinal section in the line a. Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-section in the line b.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

My invention is designed for such concave rests as furnish a long bearing-seat to support the hind bows of a carriage-top when let down, whether such rests are projected behind the prop-irons of the seat-rail of the carriage by au arm, as shown in the drawing, or adjusted directly to and over the prop-irons themselves;

and the better to enable those skilled in the art to construct my invention, I will proceed to describe it.

A is the cast-metal arm,`furnished at one end with an eye, e, to iit on the prop-iron (not shown) of the seat-rail, one on each side, where they are secured at the desired points by a setbolt passing up through the lower shell or wall of the eye. (Not seen in the drawing.) At the top of the projecting end of each arm I connect a cast-metal bearing-rest, B, in such a manner as to permit to it a limited vibratory motion in a vertical and also in a horizontal plane.

The bearing-rest is of cast metal, and substantially as shown, with an upper shell-like groove to receive the bows, and perforated to permit any mud-splashings to escape. I also form the extremities with a ilare or semi-trumpet shape, to prevent the cloth of the top being frayed or cut if caught in, and form the higher central portions of the sides with more or less flare also.

The middle ofthe bearing-rest B is furnished with two descending joint-ears, C, having an intermediate rule-joint-shaped recess between to receive the joint-tenon cl of a very short swivel-post, D. This post has a bottom swivelpin, p, with a threaded end, provided with a tightening-nut, a. The joint-tenon of the post is pivoted, as at z', through and between the ears c, and to prevent any chattering by slackness or wear of the pin, I usually insert and spring in a strip of rubber, r, in the space between the tenon and the recess-bottom.

A hole to receive the swivel-pin p is made through the end of the arm A, or through the prop-iron, (if the use of the arm is dispensed with,) and the swivel-pin inserted, when the /nut is screwed up and the post drawn to its shoulder against the arm or prop-iron, as the case may be.

There are two discretionary modes of adjustng in the horizontal plane. When the carriage-top is first let down and the bows fairly bedded in the rest, the nut may be tightened up, so that the post will be rigidly held, or it may be left a little slack, to adj ust itself to the sides of the bows in that direction, as the pivoted joint enables it to accommodate itself to the back edges ofthe bows by the vibration iu the vertical plane.

In the carriage-top rest patented November 30, 1869, by Lawrence & Lewis, the rest is cast on the arm but in this wayit is very difficult, if not impossible, to iit the arm on the propirons so that the rest will be in exact alignment with the bows when let down; and, even if that could be accomplished with a new construction, the bows are liable to spring afterward, when they would no longer tit down in the rigid seat, and the whole purpose and object of the invention-viz., furnishing a long true bearing for the back bows-would be defeated.

In my arrangement no exact iitting is required, and the bows, however sprung, will always find a true and even bearing of any required extent to save the bows and covering of the top from injury when let down.

The iiaring terminations of the rest B are designed to protect the curtains or leathers on the bows from being injured by cutting, frayin g, or otherwise when the bows are let down.

It is not necessary in all cases to confer the swivel-motion to the bow-rest by connecting a post to the arm by means of a swivel-pin, 1;, for should the carriage-top be of such oonstruction and so hung that when the top is let down the back bows will lie at or about a right angle with the prop-irons, then the bearing-rest may be jointed to a joint-ear, d, cast on the end of the arm, and VYthe horizontal adj ustment be dispensed with.

I claim as my inventionl. The combination and arrangement of the joint-ears C and the joint and swivel-post D with each other and with the bow-rest B and the prop-irons of a carriage-seat rail, or with the arm A, when fitted on said irons, substantially in the manner herein described, and for `the purpose of a double adjustment with the O'r'ro L. JOHNSON, ALBERT PATCH. 

